Disclaimer: This article discusses rape and sexual assault.
Who are they? History
“Comfort women” are women and girls who were forced by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II to become sex slaves. The majority of the victims were from South Korea and China; others were from the Philippines, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia, East Timor, Macau and Hong Kong. These women and girls were recruited by false advertisements with the promise to work as housemaids or factory workers. However, they were abducted and forced into sex slavery for the Japanese soldiers. This was sponsored by the government and become known as “comfort stations.” The main purpose of these stations was to improve army morale; hence, a strategy for the war. The number of women and girls forced into sex slavery is stipulated to be around 400,000. Most of these victims were kept in sub-human conditions and suffered from mental and physical abuse.
Testimonies from Victims:
Hwang So-gun (born in 1918)
At the age of 17, the head of the village came to the Hwang So-gun family’s house and promised her a job in a factory. Since her family had very low resources, she accepted the offer. She was then put on a train and sent to a big house at the River Mudinjian in China where she was assigned a small room with a straw bag to sleep on. After two days, a Japanese soldier came into the room and she was raped. Every night, Hwang So-gun was assaulted by 15 to 20 men.
Chong Ok-sun (born in 1920)
At the age of 13, while her parents were working in the field, she was fetching water for their lunch. Chong Ok-sun was abducted by a Japanese garrison soldier. At first, she was taken in a truck to a police station where she was raped and physically abused. Moreover, after 10 days she was taken to the Japanese army garrison barracks in Heysan City—present-day North Korea. Every time she protested or put up a fight with the soldiers, they would hold a matchstick to her private parts. Chong Ok-sun estimates that more than half of the girls who were at the garrison barracks were killed. When she was 18 years old, she was left for dead in a mountain. She was found by a 50-year-old man who helped her travel back to Korea. Chong Ok-sun was physically and mentally abused for 5 years.
Kum Ju-hwang (born in 1921)
At the age of 17, Kum Ju-hwang thought that she was being drafted as a labor worker. After three years of working at a Japanese military factory, she was asked by a Japanese soldier to a tent. In that instance, Kum Ju-hwang was raped by the soldier. She fainted mid-process and when she woke up she was covered in blood. In the beginning, she was ordered to serve high-ranking officials but as time passed and she became more “used,” Kum Ju-hwang served lower-ranking officials. Most females were given “606 shots” so that they could not get pregnant and if they did get pregnant it would result in miscarriages. Kum Ju-hwang was forced to work as a “comfort woman” for five years.
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